April 29, 2024
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Seneca tops St. Bede 79-35, completes second straight 9-0 regular season

Fighting Irish score on 10 of 11 possessions, run for 564 yards

By Brian Hoxsey
Seneca's Brayden Simek blocks for teammate Asher Hamby at home on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023.

Seneca's Brayden Simek blocks for teammate Asher Hamby (2) at home on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (Katy Arnold for Shaw Local )

SENECA — After playing to a three-score deadlock through the opening quarter, Seneca made a pair of defensive stops in the second quarter against St. Bede Academy and turned them into quick touchdowns on the way to an eye-popping, 79-35 victory on Friday night.

The undefeated Fighting Irish (9-0, 7-0) won for the 20th straight time in the regular season and closed out a perfect Chicagoland Prairie League slate. Last season, Seneca earned the Vermilion Valley Football Alliance North championship.

St. Bede's Alex Ankiewicz reaches for a pass in the end zone at Seneca on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023.

St. Bede's Alex Ankiewicz reaches for a pass in the end zone at Seneca on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (Katy Arnold for Shaw Local )

“We just kind of got into a track [meet] with them at the start, and it was a dead heat,” Seneca coach Terry Maxwell said. “Credit St. Bede for a really good game plan, one where they came in here aggressive and ready to attack us. Like I just told our kids, we can win a lot of different ways, and a high-scoring game is one of them.

“St. Bede had some big plays in the first quarter, but we were able to hang in there, made a couple of stops and quickly converted them into scores.”

Seneca, which rushed 46 times for 537 yards, was led by RB Asher Hamby, who had 16 carries for 228 and four (48, 2, 68, 15) touchdowns. QB Paxton Giertz added 154 yards on seven tries and three scores (73, 6, 44), and Nathen Neal 69 yards on 10 carries and two scores (4, 20).

Seneca's Paxton Giertz runs out of bounds as St. Bede's AJ Hermes tackles him at Seneca on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023.

Seneca's Paxton Giertz runs out of bounds as St. Bede's AJ Hermes tackles him at Seneca on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (Katy Arnold for Shaw Local )

“We started out slow, and I thought that might happen being senior night and everything,” said Hamby, who also caught a 28-yard TD pass from Giertz in the third quarter. “We didn’t have the mojo we needed to have at the start. But then we were able to stop them a couple of times on defense, our offensive line really started moving people off the line, and we started to really use our fakes well.”

St. Bede QB Max Bray finished 24 of 41 for 338 yards and five TDs and rushed 15 times for 57 yards as the Bruins posted 368 total yards. Alex Ankiewicz (160 yards, 3 TD) and Evan Entrican (27 yards) each made seven catches, with Halden Hueneburg making five grabs for 81 yards and a score, and Carson Riva two for 58 and a TD.

St. Bede's Gino Ferrari is tackled by Seneca's Paxton Giertz at Seneca on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023.

St. Bede's Gino Ferrari is tackled by Seneca's Paxton Giertz at Seneca on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (Katy Arnold for Shaw Local )

“Seneca is very good at what they do, and we knew we were going to have problems stopping them offensively. But who has?” St. Bede coach Jim Eustice said, his team finishing the regular season 5-4 and 4-3 in the Chicagoland Prairie, most likely with an at-large playoff berth. “We wanted to do what we do on offense as well, and we did that in the first quarter. Then in the second, we had a couple of drives stall out, and they came back with a touchdown on the first play.

“I’m very proud of the way we played tonight and had one of the best Class 2A teams on their heels a little bit. We’re in the playoffs again, the fourth year in a row, six teams we played are also in the playoffs, so that’s something for our players to be very proud about.”

Playoff pairing will be announced Saturday night.